Pilipino Workers Center

What We Are Learning

Weingart Foundation Learning and Assessment Practice

The Weingart Foundation has always held learning as a core organizational value. We engage in meaningful learning activities that aim to refine and improve our approaches to strengthen the capacity and effectiveness of nonprofit organizations, collaboratives, and coalitions working to advance racial, social and economic equity in Southern California.

Our Learning and Assessment practice serves three primary purposes: to support program staff with ongoing learning, assessment, and strategy development; to foster organizational and cross-program learning; and to advance learning externally, among grantee partners and the broader field.

In F.Y. 2014, our Board of Directors approved the following Learning and Assessment Framework, which is designed to comprehensively assess how the Foundation’s Unrestricted Operating Support (U.O.S.) furthers the organizational effectiveness of our nonprofit partners.

Learning and Assessment Framework

Nonprofit partners will be better able and more effective in addressing needs of impacted individuals and communities

Maintain a grantmaking program that responds to organizational and programmatic need as identified by our nonprofit partners

Maintain policy and practice to help nonprofit partners better provide and sustain their programs and services

Exercise leadership in the nonprofit and philanthropic community to influence policy and practice

The Foundation began full implementation of our Learning and Assessment system at the start of F.Y. 2016, allowing us to systematically capture nonprofit data across seven areas of organizational effectiveness for all of our U.O.S. partners with grants over $50,000. As part of this system, executive directors from partner organizations are asked to complete a Grantee Survey in lieu of a final report, as well as engage in a close-out conversation with their Foundation program officer.

Key Learning Activities

Below is a description of key components related to our Learning and Assessment Practice; this is not an exhaustive list of all learning-related activities.

Internal Learning Meetings: Staff participate in biweekly action-oriented Learning Meetings that serve as a safe space for asking questions and exploring assumptions and practices. Learning meetings center on topics that advance our mission and grantmaking goals and respond to staff needs and interests, drawing on expertise from staff, external practice leaders, and nonprofit partners.

Formal Learning Agenda: In FY25, the Foundation implemented a strategic learning agenda to advance our individual and collective education on racial justice and how it intersects with various issues and identities. The learning agenda is anchored to quarterly Board meetings and includes additional learning opportunities for staff as well as any Board members who wish to join. Key topics for the year include Native erasure and supporting First Peoples, Black power building, disability justice, community land ownership, and cross-racial solidarity.

Year in Review. At the close of each Fiscal Year, we compile a “Year in Review” report for Foundation staff and Board containing information about our impact investing and grants. This includes data on alignment with our strategic framework, impact investing highlights (e.g., PRI overview and impact summary, progress on mission alignment), and key grant statistics (e.g., geographic region, program area, organizational budget, leader race/ethnicity).

Internal feedback for continuous improvement. We systematically gather staff and Board feedback on core learning events, such as the annual Planning Conference and periodic staff retreats, to assess the extent to which goals were achieved and to identify what worked well and areas for improvement.

Listening and Learning Practices. The Foundation remains committed to listening and learning from nonprofits and communities in an ongoing effort to refine and strengthen our approaches to advance equity, including:

Community Engagement: The Foundation regularly engages with nonprofit leaders representing the diversity of our service region. We meet with grantees outside of the application process to gather information on: 1) perception and feedback on the Foundation’s programs and practice,2) current challenges and opportunities in the field, and 3) recommendations to inform our future work and direction.
Grantee Perception Reports: The Foundation works with the Center for Effective Philanthropy
to periodically survey recent grantee partners to identify what is currently working well and
what can be improved in areas ranging from the Foundation’s operational processes to our
communications.
Program Assessments: The Foundation periodically engages external support to evaluate programs, initiatives, and/or areas of special interest and identify what worked well, areas for improvement, and implications for future efforts.

For additional information on our Key Learning Activities, please contact Aimee Fribourg, Manager of Learning and Assessment, at afribourg@weingartfnd.org or Joyce Ybarra, Vice President of Programs, at jybarra@weingartfnd.org.